Marcos de Niza tops Desert Ridge, clinches region title

It was billed as a game between strengths: Mesa Desert Ridge’s great offense against Tempe Marcos de Niza’s suffocating defense.

Turns out the Padres had both.

 SLIDESHOW: Marcos de Niza vs. Desert Ridge

SLIDESHOW: Friday night football action

Marcos de Niza flexed its muscle on both side of the ball in a 31-13 win over the Jaguars on Friday night at Marcos de Niza.

The victory gave the Padres (9-1, 3-1) the 5A-II Pima Region title. They won it last season, as well, but lost a host of standout performers from the 2007 squad.

“It proves everybody wrong,” Marcos de Niza quarterback Zach Schira said. “We can win without them. We’re a new team and we can do it, too.”

Marcos de Niza held a 14-7 lead at the half before scoring 17 points on its first three second-half possessions to run away with the win.

Schira finished the game 10-for-16 passing for 134 yards and four touchdowns.

The Padres used fade passes to their wide receivers for big gains all night. Two of their touchdowns came on fades against Desert Ridge’s shorter cornerbacks.

“We knew they were fast and we knew they were tough, but we thought our skill guys were better,” Schira said. “Setting them up with the right mismatches was the plan, and we executed it.”

Marcos de Niza’s only loss this season was to Phoenix Pinnacle, when the offense scored just 11 points. Still, the offense took positive steps besides the ugly numbers.

“We know what we’re doing now,” Schira said. “We’re clicking and we’re all on the same page. It’s going as planned.”

It was the Padres’ balanced game Friday that did in the Jaguars (7-3, 3-1). Ramon Abreu ran for 144 yards on 16 carries, 127 of the yards coming in the second half, when Marcos de Niza wore down the Desert Ridge defense.

Five different receivers caught passes in the game, and three caught touchdowns.

The outcome was still in doubt at intermission, though.

Schira found Tevin Newell on a 41-yard touchdown pass and then found Justin Rodriguez for a 7-yard score less than 90 seconds later for a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Desert Ridge cut the lead in half on a 20-yard pass from Kevin Pantastico to Chris Jamison, but didn’t take advantage of two other possessions inside the Marcos de Niza 5-yard line.

Pantastico finished 16-of-24 for 211 yards and a touchdown, and completed 14 passes in a row at one point.

But the Padres otherwise kept the Jaguars offense in check, and put themselves in position to host two state tournament games.

“Our goal is to go as far as we can this season,” Padres coach Roy Lopez said. “It’s a good momentum-getter.”